Belgium was until recently the only European country with Denmark not to allow dual nationality under any circumstances.
Expatica : Crackdown on fraudulent citizenship requests
I don't quite understand why immigrants would feel more incline to integrate if they retain their former nationality though. On the contrary, it seems to me that this only encourage them to feel as permanent expatriates and forming ghettos where they maintain a lifestyle similar to that of their country of origin. What Guy Verhofstadt probably meant is that the new law encourages more people to become Belgian citizens, which they might not have done if they had to give up their birth nationality.
I am personally in afvour of dual citizenship, especially in case of international marriages, where the couple and their children might move back and forth between their respective countries.
The new legislation also aims at cracking down on illegal immigartion :
In other words, illegal immigrants could become Belgian citizens as easily as legal foreign resident in Japan married to a Japanese could obtain permanent residency (without citizenship rights). Most English-speaking countries require 5 years of legal residency to be eligible for naturalisation. Belgium used to be far too generous for giving the same rights to illegal immigrants.
For example, out of about 85,000 people of Moroccan decsent in Brussels, only 5,000 currently hold Belgian nationality, although over 90% of them are eligible for it.
One more improvement :
This is only natural. Recently a Dutch member of parliament of Ethiopian origin lost her Dutch nationality because of lying in her application for nationality (see BBC article). Considering that she was a popular MP, elected by the Dutch people, I find it a bit over the top to eject her from the country for a small lie, while in neighbouring Belgium downright illegals were granted citizenship anyway.
Expatica : Crackdown on fraudulent citizenship requests
Expatica said:
I don't quite understand why immigrants would feel more incline to integrate if they retain their former nationality though. On the contrary, it seems to me that this only encourage them to feel as permanent expatriates and forming ghettos where they maintain a lifestyle similar to that of their country of origin. What Guy Verhofstadt probably meant is that the new law encourages more people to become Belgian citizens, which they might not have done if they had to give up their birth nationality.
I am personally in afvour of dual citizenship, especially in case of international marriages, where the couple and their children might move back and forth between their respective countries.
The new legislation also aims at cracking down on illegal immigartion :
Expatica said:
In other words, illegal immigrants could become Belgian citizens as easily as legal foreign resident in Japan married to a Japanese could obtain permanent residency (without citizenship rights). Most English-speaking countries require 5 years of legal residency to be eligible for naturalisation. Belgium used to be far too generous for giving the same rights to illegal immigrants.
For example, out of about 85,000 people of Moroccan decsent in Brussels, only 5,000 currently hold Belgian nationality, although over 90% of them are eligible for it.
One more improvement :
Expatica said:
This is only natural. Recently a Dutch member of parliament of Ethiopian origin lost her Dutch nationality because of lying in her application for nationality (see BBC article). Considering that she was a popular MP, elected by the Dutch people, I find it a bit over the top to eject her from the country for a small lie, while in neighbouring Belgium downright illegals were granted citizenship anyway.